Caring
by TamaraneanOnMars
Summary: Before Artemis could move to avoid her, she had the assassin diving at her... And a sai was sinking into her leg. Artemis gets injured, Zatanna is trying her very best to expose something Artemis never wanted anyone to find out and she was then loopy on pain killers. Not her best day, admittedly. Oneshot. Spitfire.


**I don't even know what this is. :l**

**I found it sitting in my documents gathering dust, unfinished and very, very bad. So, I decided to go through it so far, improve and finish it. It's still weird, though. Oh well. I want to upload something else tonight so I'll settle for this. I couldn't think of a title. xD Plus, this is my first attempt at writing a fight sequence, so don't kill me, I tried!**

**EDIT: So, I wrote this late last night so there were loads of spelling and grammar mistakes. I just went through it, just to correct the ones I had noticed.**

**And thank you to all the reviewers! Your kind words made my day. :) I think that I might continue it, but I'm kinda busy with 'Welcome To The Team' right now, so I'll wait until I have time. But thank you lovely people. :3**

**Title: Caring**

**Characters/Pairings: Wally, Artemis, Spitfire**

**Summary: Before Artemis could move to avoid her, she had the assassin diving at her... And a sai was sinking into her leg.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, or any of it's characters.**

* * *

"You _IDIOT_!"

Kaldur'ahm sighed, placing the remote on the table and letting his head fall into his hands. He wondered what Wally had done this time. It may be slightly unfair to immediately assume that it was his fault, but judging by her tone of voice and how high pitched it sounded, he knew it was. He had just started to relax, too. They had some free time, since they didn't have their mission yet, and he had tried to spend it reading. He shook his head and took his hands away from his face before placing the book on the table, deciding to read it later.

"Not again..." He muttered testily, then stood and made for training room, where he guessed was the source of the yelling. He thought that he should probably go and see if it was anything serious, since the anger in Artemis's voice - which had echoed through the whole cave - was exceptionally... _angry_. He had actually seen Connor, who had been sitting in the living room with him, cup his hands over his ears and let out a noise of pain. Sometimes he felt sorry for him and his super-powered hearing.

On his way, he passed M'gann M'orzz, who was biting her lip as she stirred some mixture for their meal. She was still in her cheer leading outfit, which looked a bit out of place with her green skin. She had gotten some food on it but hadn't seemed to notice. She had come back straight from after school practice, and hadn't bothered to change, since it was now the weekend and she had two days to wash it before practice on Monday.

"Kaldur? Do you want me to come?" She questioned worriedly, taking a single step towards him and lowering the mixture, which Kaldur now realized was some half-mixed mash potato. He inwardly winced at the lumpy mess. Though he would never say, he couldn't help but think that it looked horrible.

"No thank you, M'gann, I can handle it." The martian nodded, but was still anxious. She hated it when Wally and Artemis had one of their heated and frequent arguments, which you could always hear, wherever you were in Mount Justice. This was mainly due to Artemis' infamous temper, and the way Wally always seemed to speak his mind, and his mind was something Artemis hated.

"Well, call me if you need help. You know how they can be." She suggested, smiling and going back to the mashed potato that looked more like sludge. Kaldur nodded, sent her a kind smile, told her that the food looked lovely, he couldn't wait and left the room. She smiled after the atlantean, oblivious to the fact that she had flicked some more potato onto her cheering uniform.

* * *

"Well, so-orry!" Kid Flash spat, his cheeks such a shade of red that you almost couldn't see his many freckles. "For the fact that _you_ got in my way!"

"_I_ got in _your_ way?" Artemis hissed, her fists clenched and face livid, gesturing wildly at her hair, which was stained with chocolate ice cream. It dripped down, seeping through to her scalp. The container for said ice cream was on the floor, having been dropped by Wally. He hadn't even noticed, his eyes focused on the archer standing parallel to him. He tried not to notice how a rouge strand of blonde hair had fallen over her grey eye. "Oh, no need to apologize, Kidiot. _I'm _sorry for ruining your meal. You must be so hungry, since you've now gone _ten minutes_ without stuffing that bit mouth of yours!"

Wally opened his 'big mouth' to respond, but she stopped him. "Oh, don't bother, Baywatch. You, you just go talk to M'gann and ask if we have any more. Hey, it gives you a chance to _talk_ to her, why not take it? After all, you're _soo_ into her. And its obvious she feels the same, right? I mean, who can resist the charms of the amazing Wall-man?" Kid flash scowled in return, but she just kicked him in the shin. He hissed slightly, trying not to show his pain. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction. "Oh, wait - you know now, don't you? How does it feel, huh? Must feel great to know that Supey beat you to it." She glared at him for a moment, and he glared back, but looked ever-so-slightly embarrassed. This satisfied her, and stalked off, out of the training room and to her bedroom, probably to take out her anger on the furniture so that she didn't hit anyone. The sound of the door slamming echoed against the walls.

Her sudden exit left Wally standing there, fuming and ignoring the pain radiating from his leg. How _dare_ she? That ignorant, annoying, frustrating _harpy! H_e heard part of him saying, '_Hey, she's not a harpy. That's what you used to call her. Now you know she's much better than that._' He decided to ignore that part of him, shoving a metaphorical sock in it's mouth. Why did she have to do that? Why did she have to act like everything was his fault? _She_ walked into _him_! He hated how she knew just how to get to him, how to make such a big deal out of the smallest things.

Kaldur watched as Wally paced from wall to wall angrily, almost tripping over the forgotten ice cream packaging more than once, and eventually decided to leave his team mate be. He needed some time to calm down, to see sense and decide if he should apologize or not. That's how it usually went now - it always ended up with them both thinking the other should apologize for a while, before both of them realize that it may be their fault and decide they should try to fix things. They would be friends for a while afterwards, then the cycle would repeat. He thought that it must be tedious for them.

He went back to the kitchen and decided to help M'gann with the dinner, as he didn't really have anything else to do. He really wasn't in the mood for reading anymore.

* * *

Artemis was curled up on the edge of her bed in Mount Justice, sharpening her arrows with more force than necessary. She thought about that ginger pest, how much she wanted to hit him, how much she wanted to make him pay for every petty insult he had ever thrown at her. She ignored the other thoughts in her head, which were, to her annoyance, quite the opposite.

"_Ugh_!" She growled at herself, dropping the arrow onto her bed. She gripped at her hair in frustration, forgetting about the ice cream that was soaking through it and resting on her scalp. She pulled her hands away, to see them coated in the dairy treat. In her anger, she chucked the closest pillow to her at the far wall. It hit it and fell to the floor with the softest of _thud_s.

_Do you want me to come cheer you up?_ She heard M'gann's hopeful voice in her head, so suddenly that her hands flew to her ears, also covering them in the melted ice cream. She growled, making it sound even angrier than her last, and tried to scrape it out of her ears.

_No, I do not! And stay out of my head! _Artemis shouted to M'gann through the telepathic link. _You should know when to leave me alone by now._ After hearing no response from the Martian, Artemis felt triumphant for a short second, but that was washed away in a second by anger. Why couldn't everyone just leave her alone?

"Team, you have a mission." Batman's voice echoed through her room. Artemis grumbled and quickly washed her hair in the sink. Seems that being left alone was not an option. Though, she was glad that she had a mission, since she could let out her anger on people who deserved it. Once her hair was washed, she changed into her emerald uniform before meeting up with the team.

Batman stood in front of many blue screens, showing Cheshire, Black Spider and Hook, three members of the League of Shadows. Artemis couldn't help but smile at the thought of punching two of them in the face. Once Batman saw that Artemis had finally arrived - she had been the last there, but no one commented on it, since anger and the desire to kill Wally was still evident on her face - he started to explain their latest mission.

"The League of Shadows are planning another attack. They are going for the museum, where a gem with much magical power has recently been put on display. We don't know exactly when they are attacking, but we are going to send you there and you have to wait for them. Try to take them by surprise. They are a highly dangerous enemy and are not to be underestimated.

"We believe that the attackers will be Cheshire, Black Spider and Hook. Kid Flash and Artemis, you two take Cheshire, Robin and Aqualad, you go for Hook, M'gann and Zatanna go for Black Spider and Superboy protects the gem. Get ready to leave immediately." Everyone on the team nodded, and set of to the bio ship, both Wally and Artemis thinking, '_Why do I always have to go with that same person every time?'_

* * *

"Landing in ten." M'gann told them from the driver's seat as they flew to the museum via the Bioship. Robin and Kaldur were discussing the best way to attack Hook and gradually coming to the decision that it would be best to just improvise, Superboy was sitting next to Miss Martian, keeping her company and Zatanna was trying to start a some-what intelligent conversation with Artemis, but the archer was busy sending Kid Flash disgusted looks. He was returning the favor, but his weren't very angry. Artemis didn't notice.

"So," Zatanna said, finally gaining her friend's attention by yanking at her shoulder. "How are you feeling about Wally right now?" Artemis turned her glare to the magician, her ponytail slapping the side of her face.

"What do you mean? I thought it was obvious." Artemis told her, adding a glare sent in Wally's direction to specify what she meant. Zatanna giggled at this.

"Oh, come on! Everyone knows!" She nudged Artemis on the shoulder playfully, grinning a grin so wide it looked like her face was splitting in half. "Why not just tell me?"

"Tell you what? _What_ does everyone know?" Artemis glowered at her, acting oblivious. Well, Zatanna thought she was acting. She leaned in to whisper in her ear, her expression growing devilish.

"_You like Wally._" She moved back to and laughed at Artemis' shocked expression. "Like I said, everyone knows. Its obvious." Artemis hissed and thought hard about denying it, about arguing, because how could she like Wally? He was arrogant, pompous, big headed, an all round jerk! But, she couldn't deny that little... spark she had felt when she had found him staring at her one morning. She had caught his eye and he had quickly looked away, blushing furiously. She decided not to deny it, since Zatanna could read her like a book. Her expression softened for a moment, but then tensed when something came to mind.

"Wait...does Wally know?" She questioned, panicked. Zatanna laughed at her, a hearty laugh that made Artemis scowl.

"Oh, so you don't deny it! How very odd of you. And, no, Wally does not know." Zatanna clarified, grinning at her friend. That had been... surprisingly easy. She had prepared tricks and mini-speeches, but it seemed that she didn't need them. She stashed them away in her mind for later.

"Wally doesn't know what?" An amused voice came from behind them. They turned to see Kidiot himself, a hand on the back of each on their seats and leaning in to hear their conversation. After seeing their hard expressions, he grinned. "Is it a _secret_?" He whispered playfully. A slender hand came to meet his face, pushing it back.

"Push off, its none of your business." Artemis scowled, her hand retreating back to her side. Wally pouted.

"But it sounded so interesting! C'mon, tell me. I won't let anyone else know, not at all. Well...maybe Robin, but thats it!" Zatanna giggled again, shaking her head.

"Oh, he knows already."

"_Zatanna_!" Artemis hissed as a devilish grin spread across the speedster's features. He ran towards Robin, pushing him away from Kaldur and almost knocking him over in the process. "Why did you say that?" Zatanna shrugged.

"He had to find out sometime." She replied, turning round to signify that the conversation was over. She couldn't help but smile at the process made. Artemis scowled at her back, then glanced over to Robin and Wally. They seemed deep in conversation, Wally looking a bit shocked, Robin grinning like the devil, but, sadly, she couldn't hear what they were saying. She turned away, determined to find out if he now knew or not.

* * *

"Okay, everyone hide and sit in the teams we have been given." Aqualad told the rest of them, his voice cool and calm, as usual. They say accordingly, Robin next to Kaldur, Zatanna next to Miss Martian, Artemis next to Kid Flash and Superboy near the gem. Wally hadn't spoke much since the conversation he had had with Robin. Artemis hoped he hadn't been told. She didn't even want to think about what he would do if he did. Probably avoid her. Forever.

"So..." Artemis said, desperate to break the silence. "How do you you want to attack?"

"I don't know." Wally answered. He was acting completely normal, save for the thoughtful expression on his face. Artemis inwardly let out a sigh of relief. "The usual, I guess. I distract them by running around while you shoot arrows and throw punches. Simple, and effective." Artemis rolled her grey eyes and decided to focus on the door, waiting for when their target makes an appearance. '_I wonder what she'll say this time,' _she thought. '_Probably some sarcastic comment on how well I'm settling in, or about my 'boyfriend'. Like that would ever happen.'_

A sudden crash and M'gann and Zatanna were up, throwing everything they had at Black Spider. It looked like they had all decided on the same strategy; improvisation. Black Spider dodged their attacks and spells and slid under them and yanked at Miss Martian's ankle. She cried out as she was pulled to the ground, the assassin restraining her. She kicked and struggled, trying to break his hold on her, but her efforts were fruitless. He laughed, sending fist after fist at her.

Meanwhile, Zatanna had been chanting. Black Spider screamed as his arms twisted, the sound of his cracking bones ringing in everyone's ears, and M'gann wriggled away and ran to Zatanna's side. "_Worht otni a llaw!"_ She screamed, throwing her hands forwards. Their opponent was chucked against the far stone wall by some invisible force, then he fell to the floor with a thump. He tried to get up, but Zatanna approached him, and punched him in the chin, shaking his brain and rendering him unconscious.

Hook smashed through the window next to Kid Flash. He shuffled away, pushing Artemis along with him. The second attacker moved passed them, and scanned the room. He scoffed when he saw Black Spider, limp and unconscious. '_He never was the better assassin,'_ he thought as he made towards some of the other precious artifacts. Artemis wondered why he wasn't going to the gem.

While he was doing this, however, Robin was moving towards his target. Doing his 'ninja-thing', he walked up behind Hook, silently, so that he wouldn't notice, and took out a small, round piece of metal with eight metal legs evenly spread out around the edge. He placed it on the opponent's back and it clamped down onto his coat. Before he could take it off, Robin was gone and the piece of metal let off the the smallest of explosions, not strong enough to kill him but strong enough to leave him dazed. He stumbled slightly, and Kaldur took this as his signal. He ran in, water forming swords and lashing against the enemy's skin. The infamous metal hook tried to retaliate, but Kaldur blocked it and sent him flying with a kick against his chest. Aqualad stepped back, and Robin flew into view, and swung low enough so that his foot came in contact with the assassin's face. He fell, much like Black Spider, and he had been the one he had scoffed for Black Spider letting himself be defeated by a couple of teenagers.

And then, finally, entered Cheshire. She froze, looking at the slumped figures of her fellow assassins. Obviously, the plan was that Hook and Black Spider would distract whoever was waiting while she took the gem. This was not what had happened.

Kid Flash ran at her. He went straight for her, then veered to the side a split second before they collided. He sprinted in circles around the startled teenager, as Artemis readied her bow.

Soon after, a bow met Cheshire's side and exploded, sending her to the side. Artemis sent another, then another, and ran to her sister, aiming a kick at her stomach. This was prevented by her hand, and so where the punches and kicks that followed. '_Damn it,'_ Artemis thought, dodging the attacks coming from her assailant. '_I should have just kept shooting at her.'_

They dodged and sent blow after failing blow, forgetting about Kid Flash, who had stopped running (It was making no difference, and he was running low on fuel) and was looking for a way to step in and help.

Artemis kicked at Cheshire's waist, but she dodged it and sent a kick of her own. Artemis growled and kicked at her and while she dodged, she sent another blow to her face. Cheshire wasn't expecting it and she stumbled back slightly, before snarling underneath her mask and running at her sister. Before Artemis could move to avoid her, she had the assassin diving at her...

And a sai was sinking into her leg.

A strangled gasp escaped her lips as she fell to the floor, gripping her leg. Wally ran at her.

"Artemis! Are you okay?" He asked, his voice panicky. She turned her head to him, painfully slow.

"What do you think?" She hissed through clenched teeth. When he didn't answer, she turned her head to her sister. She expected her to laugh and jeer about how much he cared or something idiotic like that. But, even though she couldn't see her expression, she looked...guilty. Cheshire stepped back and stood still for a moment, then she finally decided to run. Wally gazed at the spot where she had ran from, but finally decided to let it go.

Kaldur, M'gann, Superboy and Zatanna raced forward, all saying "Are you okay?" or "Where did she get you?" or "Why did she run?" Artemis answered none of these questions. She just stared at Wally as he hugged her and started wrapping her wound with material ripped from his own costume sleeve. The look on his face was so... guilty. She wondered why for a moment, then she realized. Typical Wally. He was blaming himself because he didn't stop it. She smiled drearily before blackness filled her vision and she fell onto her back with a _thud_, the words '_That's idiotic,_' echoing through her head.

* * *

_Beep... Beep... Beep..._

What was that noise?

_Beep... Beep... Beep..._

God, that noise was annoying. Why did it have to be so loud? Didn't they know that Artemis was trying to sleep? Sure, she wasn't doing that well anymore - though her eyes were closed, she had started to become more and more aware of her surroundings, even if she felt like laughing for no reason and everything was a bit slurry.

_Beep... Beep... Beep..._

Now that Artemis thought about it, that noise was kind of funny. She let out a small giggle, and immediately felt something warm move on her leg. Her eyes opened in mild surprise, and she saw that she was lying on a bed in the blindingly white medical facility in Mount Justice. That beeping, she now knew, was a heart monitor that she was hooked up to. She glanced down at where she had felt movement on her leg, and saw none other than Wally West, asleep on it and snoring softly. The movement had obviously been him moving in his sleep. She laughed, touching his hair. He woke with a start at the feel of her fingers.

"Artemis? You're awake?" He asked sleepily, staring at her, looking slightly bewildered. He frowned, grabbing her wrist and gently placing it by her side, standing from his seat. "What were you doing?"

"Your hair looked like it was on fire." She told him, saying it like it was obvious and smiling innocently. "I wanted to see if it burnt. It didn't." She grinned and Wally smiled at her, inwardly sighing. '_Well, they did tell me that she would be loopy on pain killers..._' He thought as he tried to stop Artemis from stroking his hair again. "I like your hair." She added after some thought, staring at the top of his head.

He laughed. "Thanks, I, uh, I guess."

"And I like your freckles, too." She continued, not seeming to notice that he had spoken. She reached out a slender finger and poked a freckle on his nose. His head jerked back in surprise, and she giggled. It was such an odd sound coming from her that Wally's mouth fell open in surprise for a moment, but then he closed it. "Your nose is really cute." Wally grinned. Never in a million years had he expected Artemis to call any part of him cute. She glanced around, checking that no one else was in the room, before leaning towards him and whispering; "Can I tell you a secret?"

Wally held back a grin, leaning in too and playing along. "What is it?" He whispered back, trying his best to look extremely curious.

She giggled. "I actually think that you're really cute altogether!" Wally blinked, and she quickly held a finger to her lips and made wild gestures with her other hand. "But don't tell Wally, I don't want him to know!"

Wally drew back and stared at her. She didn't notice, suddenly taking vivid interest in her hair. She flicked it, plaited it, stared at it like she had never seen it before then flicked it again. Wally tried to process what she had told him, failed and tried again. Sure, after what Robin had told him on the bio-ship, he should have been expecting it, but he hadn't fully believed it. Now, to hear it from Artemis herself, even if she was loopy on pain killers, it was... fantastic. His face broke out into a grin and he laughed for no particular reason. She looked at him and pouted comically, poking him in the chest.

"You're laughing. Are you laughing at me?" She asked, her voice like a child in a huff. She pulled back her hand and crossed her arms. He frowned.

"No, I'm not laughing at you, I'm just... happy." He responded soothingly, smiling again. She grinned at him and broke out into sudden, hysterical laughter. Wally blinked and took a step back in surprise. "Uh... What is it?"

She wiped a tear from her eye. "You laughed because you were happy, and I was happy, so I wanted to laugh too!" She giggled, clamping a hand over her mouth for no apparent reason. Wally frowned at her, trying to ease her onto her back by pushing at her shoulder gently.

"Artemis, you need to rest."

"No."

He sighed. "Artemis..."

She giggled again, mimicking his expression. "Wallace..."

"Artemis. Sleep. _Now_." He told her firmly, finally getting her on her back and crossing his arms to make himself seem like he had more authority. She giggled and snuggled into the thin, white quilt, her grin slowly melting into a sleepy smile.

"Oh... okay... Wally..." She said, slowly drifting into sleep. When her eyes were closed and her breathing was even and soft, Wally smiled, unable to resist the urge to brush some amazingly blonde hair from her forehead. She looked so peaceful in her sleep. Wally glanced at the clock and was surprised to find that it was 1:27 a.m. He yawned quietly and quickly decided that he couldn't be asked to go to his room. He sat down in his chair again and leaned against the side of Artemis's bed, closing his eyes and smiling softly. He soon found that he was able to sleep thinking of Artemis and how she thought he had a cute nose.

* * *

"_Wally_?"

"I'm up, I'm up!" Wally blurted, sitting up abruptly at the sound of someone saying his name. He looked up to see Artemis staring at him in surprise, hair a mess, bags under her eyes. Her arm was around him, and she quickly pulled it back, staring at it in horror.

"It was there when I woke up!" She assured him and he smirked. '_Looks like the drugs wore off._' He thought, shaking his head. He yawned and Artemis relaxed slightly, narrowing her eyes. "And what are you doing here?"

Wally blinked at her. "So.. you don't remember?"

"I remember Cheshire sinking a sai into my leg then passing out. That's it." She answered casually. Wally's face looked startled, scared and disappointed. Artemis concluded that none of these emotions were good and frowned at him. "What? Is there something I'm missing?"

"Nope!" Wally blurted, standing up. Artemis jerked back and blinked in her surprise. The beeps from the heart monitor got faster for a moment. "Nothing! Nothing at all." He smiled shakily at her and started to make his way to the door. "I'll go tell someone you're awake, and properly this time!" He called back before leaving.

Artemis stared at where she had last seen him in bewilderment. That had been... abrupt. What had he meant by 'And properly this time'? Did she wake up before? Now that she thought about it, she did have some blurry memories. There was... Wally grinning... and her whispering something to him. She didn't hear what she had whispered, but did remember that afterwards she had said, 'But don't tell Wally, I don't want him to know!'. Okay, so now she knew something; she had been completely loopy. After some thought, she realized that it was probably pain killers. She then continued to search her memories, desperately trying to remember what she had told him. It had to have been important. Wally's face when she had said she didn't remember had told her that. Plus, she had seen something else on his face this morning. It had been... respect? Fondness? She tried to push that to the back of her mind and failed, eyes widening with horror. She hugged her knees and sighed.

What had she said to him?


End file.
